1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of real time information monitoring of remote equipment and in particular to monitoring and/or control of telecommunication field units.
2. Description of the Related Art
Status information for components of remote facilities equipment are generally transmitted from a sensor over wires or coaxial cable to a receiver in the remote equipment where the information is processed and/or forwarded to a main facility like a Central Office (CO). This status information includes information such as: power converter status, battery life indicators, cable continuity alarms, etc. Providing individual wiring for each component and a multiplicity of sensors adds expense and complexity to the remote equipment. Sending this data via wires that are not dedicated to status information reduces the bandwidth available and frequently yields poor or unreliable results due to the accumulation of noise within the communication channel. Failures in these transmitters can add noise to the wires or coaxial cable, which further degrades the information quality. Thus, there is a need for a simple and cost efficient way for handling system status and fault information.